


This Isn't Me

by barbara_princess_of_delphi



Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: F/F, Gen, Humor, Metafiction
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-27
Updated: 2018-03-25
Packaged: 2019-03-24 21:05:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 12,234
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13819434
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/barbara_princess_of_delphi/pseuds/barbara_princess_of_delphi
Summary: Max Caulfield's ordinary life is suddenly turned upside down when she becomes possessed by a mysterious entity known only as The Player.Helpless to resist The Player's control, Max has no choice but to go along for a wild journey alongside her oblivious friends, who have no idea that every move she makes and every word she says is being dictated by this unwanted outside force...(A fic based on my "evil choices" playthrough of LiS S1, from the POV of the poor Max I'm dragging along with me)





	1. Episode 1 Chrysalis (part 1)

_-Monday, October 7, 2013-_

It all started with a nightmarish vision.

One moment she was sitting in Mr. Jefferson’s class, doing her level best to take in her idol’s every word but inevitably succumbing to her sleep deprivation after staying up late last night finishing the homework she’d put off as usual.

The next moment she was struggling her way up to the lighthouse on the cliff, staring down the biggest, meanest tornado there ever was…

…and then with a jolt she sat up in her chair just in time to avoid being crushed by a giant chunk of lighthouse.

But it wasn’t long before the nightmare turned out to be the least of Max’s worries. 

Mr. Jefferson went right on with his lecture, which confirmed to Max that she hadn’t fallen asleep as she knew Mr. Jefferson would have called her out on it if she had. He asked the class a question – “…who can tell me the name of the actual process that led to the birth of the self-portrait?”

No one answered.

“Anybody?”

Silence.

“This does not bode well.” 

An awkward atmosphere descended onto the class.

“Just jump right in with an answer!”

Mr. Jefferson’s prompt was met with more silence. 

As much as Max wanted to end the awkward silence, she unfortunately didn’t know the answer… and neither did anyone else, it seemed.

_Why isn’t Victoria answering?_

Victoria usually jumped at every chance to impress Mr. Jefferson. Did she not know either?

“This was in the chapters you read,” Jefferson scolded the class.

Nothing.

“You did read the chapters…right?”

Clearly, no one had. Not even Victoria… _what the hell? Since when does Victoria not know the answer?_

“Your silence is deafening!”

The whole class seemed to sink into their chairs just a bit more, even though in reality no one moved at all, not wanting to draw the full force of Jefferson’s ridicule onto themselves.

“If this were a photo, I’d call it a still life.”

_Come on, where’s the bell? Why won’t this class end?_

Class seemed to be dragging on forever. Even Jefferson seemed to be running out of words to express his disappointment at his students, for he now began to repeat himself.

“Anybody? …This does not bode well.” Long pause. “Just jump right in with an answer!” Another long pause. “This was in the chapters you read…”

And that was when the real horror started for Max. For suddenly, at this critical moment when she and her classmates were desperately keeping still and quiet…

_I should take a picture to prove I’m still here._

Max was so startled by the unexpected thought that suddenly passed through her head, she tried to whip her head around to look, startled—

\--and that’s when she found herself completely paralyzed, her entire body seized in place by an invisible, yet overwhelming vice-grip that seemed to come out of nowhere. She pulled, as hard as she could, with every muscle in her body, but her arms and legs simply would not move – the force was too strong.

 _Plus, it’s perfect for my portfolio. And I have to get my daily selfie quota—Whoa, stop right there!_ Max cut off this foreign train of thought in her head, having a more urgent issue to worry about.

_What the fuck! Why am I paralyzed!? Move, damnit!_

And then, through no voluntary action or desire of her own, Max watched as her hands moved, propelled by some invisible force, towards the camera to her left.

_No, not now! I haven’t taken a selfie today yet, but no way can I do it now, Jefferson’s looking right at me! Hands, STOP!_

But to her absolute horror Max seemed to have lost all control over her own body as the invisible force pushed down on every inch of her skin, forcing her hands, arms, even individual fingers to move the way it wanted them to, despite all her efforts to resist. Straining ineffectually against the overpowering forces around her, Max could only watch helplessly as her hands picked up her own beloved Polaroid camera and turned it towards her face. The pressure surrounded her head, tilting it down, forcing her to look into the lens of her camera even as she defiantly strained her neck muscles trying to keep her head up. Within moments the click of the camera reverberated through the quiet room, as this invisible force compelled Max’s body to complete the day’s selfie quota even against her own will…

 _What the hell is this?_ Max felt her hands on the table in front of her and tried, again, to move them. No luck. Any attempt to move her hands instantly ran into invisible resistance far stronger than her own muscles. She could not even budge them a millimeter.

 _Help! I’m trapped!_ Max tried to scream only to find that even her own mouth and vocal cords were no longer responding to her, feeling gagged by the same invisible force. She was well and truly locked inside her own body, and no one outside even knew anything was wrong.

Calm on the outside, but panicking on the inside and unable to show it or cry for help, Max could only look on from inside her body-turned-prison as Jefferson expounded about the selfie she didn’t even want to take, and then, inevitably, directed the question he’d just asked the class (and that no one apparently knew) straight at her.

“…please, tell us the name of the process that gave birth to the first self-portraits?" 

_Oh, crap! What do I say?_

But even as Max panicked under the spotlight, faced with the double task of coming up with something to say and then trying to actually move her mouth to say it…

“I did know! …but I kinda forgot.”

Startled, Max glanced around looking for the source of the voice before realizing that it was her own. She hadn’t even tried to speak yet, but somehow, her mouth had spoken without her input.

Jefferson was not pleased with the excuse Max’s mouth invented while her brain was still not in control. “You either know this, or not, Max,” he declared, slamming the table. “Is there anybody here who knows their stuff?”

And then, to Max’s shock and utter bewilderment, Victoria’s voice cut in. “Louis Daguerre was a French painter who created "daguerreotypes", a process that gave portraits a sharp reflective style, like a mirror. 

_What the fuck!? Victoria, why didn’t you speak up two minutes ago!?_

Lost in her puzzled thoughts and vain efforts to think of a way to escape her current predicament, Max only dimly registered Victoria’s taunting after yet another humiliation in front of the whole class. “Now you’re totally stuck in the Retro Zone. Sad face.”

By the time the bell finally rang, after some of the longest minutes of her life, Max wanted nothing more than to find a place to be alone so she could break down and cry. But once again a vast network of irresistible forces moved her limbs and body of their own accord, refusing to accept even the slightest input from her own feeble attempts to control her movements. After a few futile attempts to make herself walk towards the door of the classroom, Max finally resigned herself to being carried around by whatever was possessing her.

As soon as she stopped resisting, Max felt the vice-grip pressures on her body lighten up, becoming only gentle pushes to guide her. She allowed whatever this mysterious force was to walk her around the room. Her eyes, seemingly also now controlled by this force, shifted to various items around the room, as if trying to draw her attention to them. Even under these highly unusual circumstances, Max couldn’t help but marvel at each of the things the mysterious entity directed her gaze to: the high-end photography equipment and printer, the books about famous photographers, the magazine covers featuring Jefferson’s work, the awesome plasma TV screen…

Then Max felt her legs carrying her across the room to Kate, who sat hunched over at her desk, looking downcast.

 _Maybe Kate can help me!_ Max thought, hopefully. _I’ll ask her if she knows anything about being possessed…_

…but unfortunately, whatever was possessing Max was definitely smart enough to not let Max say a word about it to Kate. With her vocal cords freezing up and constricting painfully every time Max tried to say anything of her own accord, Max had no choice but to let go and allow her mouth and vocal cords to say whatever this mysterious force wanted her to say.

To her relief, Max found she wasn’t forced to say or do anything other than what she would normally have said or done, had she not been under active possession by this supernatural thing straight out of fiction. The thing was obviously very good at covering its tracks and making sure no one would notice how Max was not really in control of herself anymore. Max heard herself comfort Kate and offer an impromptu invitation for tea, which Kate deferred citing homework. They agreed to hang out some other time.

 _Fine, I’ll let you stay for now,_ Max thought, pretending to talk to this supernatural force in her head. Not that she really had a choice, she had no idea how to get rid of it or escape its control, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t going to try.

But for now, under the entity’s control, Max allowed herself to stare out the window for a while, pick up the crumpled note Taylor had thrown across the room at Kate during class (as soon as she read it, she wished she hadn’t), and finally try to make an excuse to Jefferson about not having time to submit a contest entry. (Here, Max questioned the entity’s decision to make her approach Jefferson – had it been up to her, she would’ve tried to sneak out of the room while Jefferson was talking with Victoria.) Jefferson didn’t buy Max’s (or rather, the entity’s) excuse, but to her relief, he was actually quite encouraging, complimenting her talent, and refusing to let Victoria hog his attention.

At long last, Max felt herself being gently steered towards the door, with her hand being encouraged towards the door handle. She opened it and stepped out of Jefferson’s class and into the hallway.

 _Finally,_ she thought, _now can I please go to the bathroom and make sure I don’t look like a total loser?_

But the entity kept forcing her to wander around the hallway in leisurely fashion, ignoring her unspoken pleas. At one point the entity even tried to push her to exit the building and go out into the courtyard.

_No, wait! I need to splash some water on my face and freshen up first!_

Mercifully, the entity relented, finally allowing Max to turn around and go to the bathroom… though by that time it had already delayed her for a good 20 minutes looking at every little thing on the way from Mr. Jefferson’s classroom.

In the bathroom was where things got even weirder.

Once again, the entity forced Max to thoroughly inspect the whole bathroom, entering the only open stall, paying close attention to an advertisement for flu shots, a defaced pro-abstinence flyer, the tampon dispenser, someone’s unkind graffiti about missing girl Rachel Amber, then examining the fire alarm in the corner (which made Max recall the last time someone had set it off), then looking at herself in the mirror, and finally turning her to the sink, which had been her goal all along. She looked at her photo, trying to encourage herself with Jefferson’s words. _Just relax. Stop torturing yourself. You have a gift._ Her idol believed in her; why couldn’t she believe in herself?

Unfortunately, as Max internally warred with her always-low self-esteem, trying to work up the nerve to hand in her photo, the entity seemed to take the side of her low self-esteem. Suddenly, in one swift motion, before Max could even think to fight it, her hands were tearing her contest entry in half, dropping the photo. Max couldn’t even bring herself to be disappointed. _Oh well. I was going to chicken out anyway…whatever._

At that moment, an iridescent blue butterfly fluttered in through the window, landing right on the bucket in the corner. Max desperately wanted to photograph the beautiful creature while she could, and to her relief, the entity agreed with her – she met no resistance as she brought out her camera and snapped the photo.

Then Nathan Prescott entered the bathroom. Max wanted to tell him he was in the wrong bathroom, but the entity held her back and she soon saw why – Nathan looked to be having a breakdown right in front of her.

After that, Max was on board with staying hidden around the corner. A blue haired punk girl walked in and started to argue with Nathan, it sounded like she was trying to get something from him… then Nathan pulled out a gun and Max froze.

Max desperately wanted to call 911, but once again her limbs were pinned in place. Whatever entity possessed her was not letting her call for help.

The argument escalated and suddenly the gun went off and Max screamed, the force that held her back suddenly releasing her and thrusting her arm out, reaching for Nathan’s victim. “NO!”

And suddenly everything reversed itself and in the blink of an eye Max was sitting back at her desk, listening to the same lecture by Mr. Jefferson she’d already heard that afternoon.

 _I already heard this lecture_ , she realized. _Now Kate is being hassled again... And if Victoria's phone rings... This is real._

Right on cue, Victoria’s phone jumped to life, vibrating the entire desk with it. And right then, whatever force had been restricting Max’s physical movements for the last hour, had delayed her from going to the bathroom, made her rip her contest entry, then stopped her from calling for help… unfortunately did not stop her from being so startled that she accidentally knocked her beloved Polaroid off her desk, breaking it.

_Shit! Where are you when I need you!? Did you want me to break my camera, you… whatever you are?_

But no answer was forthcoming. Wondering if the entity had stopped possessing her, Max tried to move on her own – and instantly the invisible straitjacket returned, clamping down on her, keeping her still. To her frustration, she hadn’t been freed at all: the entity was clearly toying with her. _What is going on? Am I crazy?_

And then a thought came into Max’s mind, unbidden.

_Okay, if I'm crazy, I might as well go all the way... Can I actually reverse time?_

Max felt her right hand rising up, gently guided into place by the invisible forces around her…

_Help me fix my camera and save that girl, and I’ll do whatever you want._

Max could feel the mysterious energy running through her. She pushed, with her hand. Her broken Polaroid flew back up to her desk, reassembling itself.

_I did it... I actually did it! I'm a human time machine..._

Max glanced around, no one seemed to have noticed anything.

_When I took my selfie, Jefferson asked me a question. If he does again, I'll know this is for real._

As Jefferson once again asked the class to name the process that gave birth to the first self-portraits, and the class once again stayed silent despite Jefferson’s sniping and berating (much to Max’s confusion, since she knew full well that Victoria knew the answer all along – _no way is Victoria just waiting for me to make a fool of myself, she can’t know what’s going to happen…can she?_ ) – Max finally gave in and reached for her Polaroid. The entity seemed to approve, as she felt its light touch helping her along.

Once again, Max broke the silence with her selfie, and once again Jefferson pounced. “Shh, I believe Max has taken what you kids call a "selfie"... A dumb word for a wonderful photographic tradition. And Max… has a gift.”

Max tuned out Jefferson, knowing exactly what was coming. _I know I'm not dreaming this. It's real. I can tell… What if that girl isn't dead yet? Can I save her?_

And at last, once again, Jefferson pinned the question on Max – “can you please, tell us the name of the process that gave birth to the first self-portraits?”

This time around, Max knew the answer – Louis Daguerre. After all, Victoria had said it last time. She would again, if Max flubbed. But Max didn’t care. _I need to go to the bathroom quickly and check it out!_

Thankfully, the entity’s choice of words for Max was exactly what she wanted to say. “I’m sorry, but I really have to use the bathroom!” 

But unfortunately, Jefferson didn’t buy it. “Nice try, Max. But you’re not going to get away that easy. We can talk more after class…”

And just like the first time, Victoria gave her textbook-perfect answer. And then taunted Max. Max wondered if she should rewind and give the right answer.

_Oh shit, Jefferson wants to keep me after class. And I need time to save that girl... Oh wait. But she doesn’t get shot until like 40 minutes after class ends. No point going there now… Might as well deal with Jefferson first._

But the entity seemed to disagree with Max’s conclusion that she didn’t need to rewind this time. A few more words into Jefferson’s lecture, everything suddenly froze all around her, turning gray. She felt the foreign energy of whatever had possessed her crawling up and down her right arm, urging her to rewind. _Do I have to? Is this what you want me to do?_ But before she could even give in and rewind, she found her right arm moving all by itself, buoyed by the velvet steel of the new entity taking over her life, and without even meaning to she felt the energy flowing through her hand, the world moving backwards around her. 

_Um, okay? Thanks, I guess?_

This time, when Jefferson addressed the question to Max again, Max answered perfectly. Victoria glared, her thunder stolen. Max felt a little guilty for being so pleased with herself, having this mysterious time-traveling force helping her turn the tables on bitchy Victoria for once.

_Sorry, Victoria. You had your chance. Didn’t think I’d know, did you?_

Soon enough, the bell rang, and Jefferson again reminded everyone about the Everyday Heroes contest. But Max was far beyond caring at the moment. She was focused on saving a life.

_Max, you are not crazy. You are not dreaming. It's time to be an everyday hero._

But first, she knew she would have to talk to Jefferson. And indeed, the entity tried to walk Max right out of the room but turned around as Jefferson called her back.

Fortunately, Jefferson didn’t keep her for long. With one final admonishment, quoting John Lennon, he let her go on her way.

But even after Jefferson dismissed Max, she found that the entity still wasn’t letting her leave the classroom. Instead, she found her legs carrying her back across the room, to Kate.

Her gaze fell on Kate’s sad-looking form, but Max quickly discarded the idea of trying to confide in her. _Kate probably wouldn’t laugh at me, but how could I ask her about what’s going on?_ The entity then pushed Max back to the front of the room, making her look at Jefferson, then Victoria. _Victoria still hasn’t moved from her spot!_ Max wondered how Victoria could last so long with her elbows on the hard table surface. But she couldn’t imagine telling either of them about becoming a time traveler, or about a shooting that was about to happen in less than half an hour. The entity seemed to relent and turned away.

_Okay, we’ve waited in here long enough. Can we go save that girl now before it’s too late?_

But the entity was deaf to Max’s pleas and instead, walked her back to Kate, starting a thankfully brief conversation. _At least Kate seemed to appreciate it. She looks like she could use a friend right now._ Max hoped she would be able to help at least a little.

 _Come on, you whatever-you-are._ Max still didn’t even know if she could communicate with the force that was taking control of her, but she’d sure as hell try. _Talked to Kate, talked to Jefferson, what more do you want? Let’s go!_

Max felt her legs being moved under her and saw she was walking back towards the door of the classroom, and breathed a sigh of relief. Until she suddenly was involuntarily stopped, right in front of the plasma TV screen, right by the door.

Suddenly filled with frustration, Max tried to jerk her body away from the TV screen and turn back towards the door, tried to force herself to leave – only to slam painfully into a Max-shaped invisible wall that hit every square inch of the front and left sides of her face, neck, body, arms, legs as she tried to turn, keeping her from moving even an inch out of place. Despite struggling for several seconds straight, she simply could not wrench her gaze away from the TV screen in front of her. The entity, it seemed, was determined to have her look at the TV screen, wasting time she might regret not having later.

Max’s vocal cords were frozen and she couldn’t make a sound, but in her head, she screamed her frustration at whatever unseen force was messing with her. _Stop this bullshit and go save that girl!_

But it was to no avail, as the entity next directed her, step by step, over to the bookcase on the left side of the room. _Come on, haven’t you already seen this? Why are we doing this all over again?_

Max’s gaze fixed unwillingly on the books that had impressed her earlier but were now nothing more than an annoyance. Again she yelled at the entity in her head. _That girl needs your help now!_

The ultrasonic lenses were next. Max grew more and more aggravated. _You better get to that bathroom!_

Jefferson’s magazine cover on the wall. _How long are you going to stall? Move!_

The carbon-fiber tripods in the corner. _That’s not as interesting as that girl about to die!_

Jefferson’s photo of the class from the start of the year, which Max had admired just now for its technique. _You don’t have time to gaze. Get out of here!_

Another Jefferson magazine cover. _That girl is going to get shot unless you go!_

The high-quality printer. _There’s no time to fuck around here!_

The computer in the back corner. _Wowser, you are blowing it! Save that girl!_  

Victoria’s notebook. _That girl needs your help now!_

Victoria’s tablet. _Stop wasting time. Go!_

Taylor’s crumpled note on the ground next to Kate. _What are you waiting for? Go!_

Slowly, inexorably, Max watched as her body was marched all around the room, systematically examining every little thing she’d already seen (and showed the entity controlling her) the first time around. And at last, when it seemed she’d seen everything, and she hoped the entity would finally let her be a hero—

Max found herself rooted to the spot, standing right under the clock, watching it tick.

4:10.

4:15.

4:20.

4:25.

_Come on! This isn’t funny! Please, I’ll do whatever you want, just save the girl!_

4:30.

4:40.

_What do you want!? Please, tell me!_

4:50.

Max still couldn’t move.

_It’s going to happen any minute now!_

But nothing happened. The clock ticked by – it was 5pm, then 5:30pm, then 6pm, and still no gunshot. Victoria was still saying something to Jefferson. More surprisingly, Jefferson was still listening to her.

_What the hell is going on?_

6:30pm.

Max felt herself being turned around. The sun was still streaming through the window.

_The sun should be setting by now. What is this? I’m not dreaming, I know it…_

It wasn’t until 6:45pm that the entity finally released her from its grip. Suddenly realizing she was free, Max almost sprinted to the door, rushing to escape Jefferson’s room.

She had no sooner closed the door behind her than the being suddenly took control again and Max found all her movements being slowed to what felt like a crawl. In unbearably slow motion Max felt herself being forced to closely examine every one of her fellow students and every flyer and banner along the entire length of the corridor. At one point the entity even tried to walk Max right into the science classroom. _Stop screwing around and get to the bathroom!_

Finally, after another half an hour of screwing around, the being finally seemed to have finished seeing whatever it was that it wanted, and let Max turn towards the bathroom… only to walk Max right *past* the bathroom and towards the outside courtyard.

_No!_

With renewed determination Max slammed herself backwards against the force that tried to push her out the door.

_The girl hasn’t been shot yet. We can still save her!_

The invisible entity kept trying to push Max’s hands towards the door but this time, even though Max could feel her muscles cramping all over, she was going to fight to the very end.

_If I leave now, that girl is going to die!_

For the first time that day, fueled by adrenaline and anger at this mysterious being, Max achieved a stalemate. Somehow, she sensed that the being was afraid, even though it could not communicate with her. It was still pushing her to open the door and leave. Max could feel herself tiring. But she pushed back with all she had. Her arms remained still. Her body quaking with the exertion.

_Don’t be a wuss, go to that bathroom._

The entity wanted to protect Max, and itself, but Max was determined to be an everyday hero, possessed or not.

_If I bail now, I’ll totally regret it forever._

At long last, just when Max felt she was about to collapse, the entity relented. Max nearly sagged to the floor as the powerful walls pushing at her back and arms from behind suddenly vanished – but as she started to fall, she felt invisible cushions suddenly appear under both her armpits, holding her upright like crutches.

_Thanks. Let’s go save her, okay?_

After catching her breath for a few seconds, Max turned around and walked back to the bathroom, supported along the way by the same mysterious force that had just tried to make her abandon the poor girl she was now going to save.

Max pushed open the bathroom door, sighing in relief as she didn’t feel a sudden grip pulling her back, and as she saw the bathroom still empty.

With no opposition and occasional gentle encouragement from her possessing entity, Max retraced her earlier steps through the bathroom, again photographed the butterfly, and soon Nathan was having his breakdown just like she’d already seen.

By some miracle, even though she’d arrived two hours later than she had before that first rewind, she wasn’t too late.

 _Thank you,_ Max said in her mind to whoever had given her this opportunity.

The blue haired girl walked in, again. The argument began exactly as Max remembered. 

_Time to be an Everyday Hero._


	2. Episode 1 Chrysalis (part 2)

To Max’s relief, saving the girl had gone pretty well. Whatever stupid entity was possessing her had tried to walk her out from behind the stall several times, but eventually got the message and helped her to grab the hammer under the janitor’s cart to hit the fire alarm instead.

With the girl’s life saved, Max freely left the bathroom with no interference from the entity – only to emerge right in front of Mr. Madsen, the security guard. Fortunately, Principal Wells emerged from his office to rescue Max soon after, shooing off Mr. Madsen and telling Max to join the others outside.

That was when the entity took over again and Max found herself unwillingly jogging, not towards the main entrance, but instead back down the hallway towards the classrooms – until Principal Wells called out to her. “Don’t wander around here, get on outside!”

Max watched from inside her own body, nonplussed but powerless to affect anything, as the entity turned around in response to Principal Wells’ instruction, jogged her around to the other side of the entrance area, out of the Principal’s sight, and then tried to sneak her behind Principal Wells to go back down the hall to the classroom area.

Several times the entity tried to move Max into the hallway, only to turn around each time upon being caught by Wells, who seemed to have eyes in the side of his head as he miraculously knew exactly when Max’s body was crossing into the hallway and always seemed to turn around to call out to her at exactly the moment she crossed that invisible horizontal line. Max wondered if he was talking to her or to the entity – did he somehow know what was possessing her, as this thing seemed to listen to Wells’ orders even as it ignored Max’s own will? 

At any rate, after several repetitions, the entity finally gave up trying to sneak past Wells (not that it ever tried, it seemed to give up as soon as Wells turned around and never even made Wells move from his spot to chase them down). Max watched and felt herself jog to the main entrance, passing right behind Wells, who didn’t move an inch – until the entity moved Max’s hands to the door. Just then, the principal spoke, and Max looked on in surprise as the entity obeyed Wells yet again.

“Hold on, Max. Come back here.”

The invisible forces moved Max’s legs to walk her over to the Principal, easily overpowering Max’s irritated efforts to push back and not move.

_You listen to other people and not me? How dare you?_

Wells acted as if nothing was wrong. “You look a little stressed out. Are you okay?”

Max wanted to say “No, I’m being possessed by an alien!” but what came out of her mouth instead was “I'm... I'm just a little worried about my... future.” 

Wells didn’t buy it, and Max began to hope that perhaps he suspected something. But as the entity forced Max to lie, to pretend she was just having “female trouble” and feeling sick, Max could see that Wells was only suspecting her as Max-the-misbehaving-teenager; he still had no idea what was really happening to her.

Max wondered if she should rewind, and report Nathan’s gun to the Principal, but the invisible forces compelled her to leave the building, grabbing her right hand when she tried to raise it and refusing to let her rewind.

Sore all over and muscles aching from the preceding hours of struggling, Max took on a passive role and allowed the entity to push her around to look at more Rachel Amber missing posters, talk to various classmates, let Daniel draw her portrait, sign Mrs. Grant’s petition against surveillance cameras (clearly the entity had a stronger opinion than Max herself on this particular subject), and finally sit on the fountain. The text alert chirped on her cellphone – Warren wanted his flash drive back.

A few minutes later, Max felt herself getting up and walking over to talk to Justin. She rolled with it, not yet feeling enough urgency to fight the entity to try to hurry up and get Warren’s flash drive. _I’ll let you play for fifteen more minutes, and then we need to get Warren’s flash drive. Okay?_

The entity knew as little about skating as Max did, and Justin quickly called her out for being a “poser” – but then Max felt her hand being pushed up and the energy flowing through as everything rewinded around her. When the entity forced Max to speak to Justin again, this time it knew to talk about “noseslides” and “tre flips” and Justin was impressed enough to offer a trick.

“Go for a tre flip!” Max heard (and felt) herself saying, without any effort on her part at all. But Trevor’s skateboard hit him in the groin and he fell over, curled up in pain.

Max pushed forward, urging the entity to let her go to check on poor Trevor, except that instead of letting her say “are you okay?” the entity forced Max to stand right over the boy and take a photo of him writhing in pain. Struggling against the forces acting on her but unable to overcome them, Max fumed at this alien entity who seemed to delight in her classmates’ pain. _What the fuck are you doing? Cut it out!_

Sadly, the entity continued to ignore her as it forced her to walk on, circling around to the back courtyard of the school after briefly stopping to chat with Evan (but then not actually look at the photo album after being offered the chance).

Max saw Kate sitting alone across the courtyard and wanted to make sure she was okay. Fortunately, the entity agreed, and spoke for Max more or less the way Max would have…

“You look down. You okay?”

“I’m kind of over humanity today,” Kate replied. “Sorry to be a drama queen.”

“Is there anything…”

“Max, I’d like to be alone if you don’t mind. I’m sorry.”

And that was where Max’s agreement with her controlling entity came to a crashing halt, as Max tried to turn away, only to find invisible walls of hard plastic blocking her every move, forcing her to stay firmly planted in front of Kate. Max fought to respect Kate’s wishes, but the entity refused, forcing her to keep talking as Kate, unaware of her friend’s inner struggle, became more and more annoyed.

“Max, get a clue!”

_Cut it out! Stop being rude to Kate!_

But the entity persisted, refusing to let Max leave Kate alone.

“Seriously Max, I don’t want to talk.”

_Me neither. Sorry, Kate. If only you could read my mind… or exorcise this thing out of me…_

“Max, get a clue!”

 _Stop it!_ Max tried to scream, but it was only in her head, no sound coming out of her frozen vocal cords.

“Seriously Max, I don’t want to talk.”

 _I know, Kate! I’m trying…_ But not a word could escape Max’s lips without the entity’s permission and for now, the entity seemed to have it out for poor Kate Marsh right along with the rest of Blackwell.

“Max, get a clue!”

Max marveled at how well Kate was keeping herself under control; had it been Max, she’d have blown a gasket long ago and started yelling to be left alone.

And Max had gotten the clue long ago, but to her utter frustration, it took several more repetitions before the entity finally got that same clue and started walking Max away.

Less than a minute later Max was mentally tearing her hair out as the entity did the exact same thing to Alyssa across the courtyard, repeatedly interrupting Alyssa as she tried to read her book, all while using Max’s voice. To her relief, Alyssa didn’t seem to be paying too much attention to Max’s horrible manners – “Sorry, I really have to find out what happens,” was Alyssa’s only response as she seemed to tune out the entity’s attempts to make further conversation with her in the guise of Max.

Max despaired that no one would ever realize it wasn’t her being rude to her own friends, it was this mysterious force that had come out of nowhere and seemed intent on destroying the precious little social life she’d acquired at Blackwell. In a sudden, impulsive move, she wrenched herself backward, half-hoping to catch the entity by surprise and finally free herself – but the invisible wall slammed into place all along her back before she could even move a millimeter out of place. Already exhausted from her earlier struggles, Max’s muscles gave out within seconds, unable to keep up the exertion. The invisible force-mould around Max held her upright, saving her from toppling over as she sighed despondently and surrendered once again to the mysterious force.

A few minutes later, feeling utterly boneless and only being kept upright by whatever was controlling her, Max was finally on her way into the dorms… only to find her way blocked by Victoria and her groupies.

Thankfully, the entity seemed to know what to do and soon Max was jogging, not with her own tired legs but instead with the aid of the hard invisible mould trapping her legs and rapidly moving them for her, towards the door to the sprinkler control room that Samuel had left open. Seeing through Max’s eyes, the entity quickly found the controls on the computer and turned up the sprinklers, controlling Max’s fingers with fast, precise movements as if highly experienced at this sort of thing. Max heard Victoria’s yelps as the water got on her and inwardly smiled in satisfaction.

The entity now jogged Max back to the steps leading to the dorm entrance, where Victoria, Taylor, and Courtney were now standing. Max quickly noticed the open space behind Courtney’s back where the three girls’ bags were left on the steps, but the entity did not. The entity seemed to be stymied by the girls’ bags strewn on the steps, pinning Max’s legs in place as she tried to raise one leg up to step over the bags behind Courtney’s back.

 _Come on, you stupid thing, raise my foot and step over their stuff!_ Max tried to project her thoughts, though still unsure if the entity could even hear her thoughts or not, as it seemed to keep doing whatever it wanted.

Instead of taking the easy way in and walking past, the entity guided Max to rewind, then tamper with Samuel’s paint bucket before he picked it up to paint the second story windows. Max looked on nervously as the entity positioned her to stand right between the bucket and Victoria, muscles still too spent to put up much of a fight to move herself away… and then the bucket began to fall and Max resigned herself to getting splashed with paint right in front of Victoria and her groupies.

…Except the entity’s supernatural powers clearly extended beyond controlling only Max’s body: for when the bucket hit the ground, the paint splashed right *through* Max, passing through her body as if she wasn’t even there… so that every drop of the paint ended up on Victoria, even though she was behind Max and should have been shielded from the brunt of it.

“No way! No fucking way!” Victoria screamed in shock, brushing off Samuel’s apology and dismissing Courtney as she promised to get some towels.

With Taylor and Courtney having run into the dorm to grab towels, the way was clear for Max to enter – Victoria was sitting despondently on the steps, no longer making any effort to take up space. Yet even so, as the entity helped Max to walk up the stairs past Victoria, something invisible seemed to block their way. Max felt as if the ground right under her feet had suddenly turned into an escalator. Her feet moved, shuffling forward, yet constantly seemed to land just below the steps they were aiming for, leaving her stuck as she walked in place like an idiot.

 _What are you doing, alien?_ Max sneered at the entity in her mind. _Have you forgotten how to walk?_

But soon the entity changed tack and brought Max a few steps sideways to face Victoria.

“Uh, hey, Victoria.” Max couldn’t believe her voice. _Why are we talking to Victoria when we could just walk right in?_

Victoria looked up, clearly not in a mood to talk. “What do you want, Max?”

Then, to Max’s surprise, the entity defused Victoria like an expert bomb squad. “I am sorry. That’s an awesome cashmere coat…”

Max’s own voice sounded foreign to her as the entity made her say things she’d never have thought to say to Queen Bee Victoria.

“It was,” Victoria acknowledged. “But there will be another.”

“Well, you always seem to know how to pick the right outfits.” Max beamed inside as she saw Victoria warming up to her. _Why couldn’t you have been nicer to Kate and Alyssa? You clearly know how!_

A few compliments later, Victoria was even apologizing for blocking Max earlier. _Never thought I’d see this day,_ Max thought.

“That was mean… but pretty funny,” Max heard herself saying, yet another sentence she’d never imagined actually coming out of her mouth. It was funny, but actually admitting that to her nemesis was another thing entirely.

Victoria moved aside and the coast was clear… but Max nearly tripped when she tried to step forward only to have her leg collide with the hard cast blocking its movement – once again the invisible forces grabbed Max all over, stabilizing her. _What are you doing? Go in!_

And instead of going in, Max felt her right hand being pushed up, the now-familiar energy pulsing at her fingertips as the world ran in reverse again. _Come on, you got what you wanted!_

Moments later Max looked on as the entity once again started talking with Victoria as if the last conversation had never happened. “Uh, hey, Victoria.”

“What do you want, Max?” Once again, Victoria looked up, her bad mood restored by the rewind, not yet being consoled by Max.

And then, to Max’s utter surprise, followed by strenuous yet ineffectual objections inside her head, Max felt her hands moving to pull out her polaroid as her own voice said “Oh wait, hold that pose!” and a moment later she’d taken a photo of Victoria covered in paint. _Stop that!_ Max screamed internally, but her voice continued despite her efforts to clamp her mouth shut – “…and no filter needed before I post this. Now please move, I’ve had a messed up day and I’m going to my room.” Max was horrified by how Victoria-like she was acting. _This isn’t me. Why are you being so mean, you know better! You were so nice just now!_

Victoria moved aside angrily. “You do that. I know where you live. So does Nathan.” Max cringed inside even as the forces manipulating her limbs like a marionette walked her towards the dormitory door. _I’m so sorry, Victoria! I swear this isn’t me!_ Max tried to say out loud but as usual, no sound came out, the thought only echoing mockingly in her head as she helplessly passed by and entered the dorm.

In the dorm, Max saw Courtney and Taylor running by with towels as she headed, under the entity’s manipulation, towards her own room. As the entity moved Max’s gaze around her room, hunting for Warren’s flash drive, it found the sticky note Dana left on her desk – and soon the entity was walking Max back out of her room and down the hallway to Dana’s room.

 _Please be nice to Dana,_ Max internally begged, as she approached Juliet, who was standing outside Dana’s room looking ready to throw down.

“Hey Juliet, is everything cool?”

Of course, Juliet didn’t buy Max’s concern. “Why do you care? Why are you even asking me? You never talk, just zone out with your camera.” 

The old Max might have stumbled for words, but whoever was talking for her didn’t miss a beat. “That’s why I’m talking to you now,” it said, in Max’s voice. Max had to admit whatever being was possessing her was a smooth talker compared to herself, even if she resented it for making her look like a horrible person to multiple of her classmates in the last few hours (not to mention covering up for Nathan Prescott after seeing him almost shoot someone on campus when he clearly needed to be reported).

Juliet still didn’t buy it. “What’s my last name?” she challenged.

“Juliet Watson, duh!” was what Max wanted to say – but instead the entity inexplicably went with, “Uh… Juliet… Mason.” _What the fuck? Stop sabotaging me!_ Unfortunately, Max had no way to explain to Juliet what was possessing her and Juliet sarcastically corrected her. “Thanks for your concern, ‘Max Caulfield’. By the way, Juliet *Watson*!”

The entity then forced Max to jog back down the hall, right up to Victoria’s room – across the hall from Max’s own room. Victoria’s door was ajar – yet despite Max’s body being forcibly walked right into the door, it simply would not open.

The entity jogged Max back to Juliet’s position, rewinded, and repeated the conversation with Juliet, this time correctly saying Juliet’s last name.

“Juliet Watson, duh!”

“I’m flattered. I didn't even think you knew my name at all.”

“Of course I do. Just because I don't talk a lot doesn't mean I don't care. So, how did you find out about them?”

“According to Victoria, Dana would do anything to date a quarterback.”

That was when Max suspected something – and Dana did, too. “Max,” she called out from inside her room, “I swear I didn't do anything! But I bet Victoria did!”

And that was when Max found herself turning to go towards Victoria’s room – though she wondered why the entity first insisted on rewinding the entire conversation, thus removing Juliet’s memory of having told Max what her issue with Dana was in the first place. But Max shrugged it off as she allowed the entity to run her back to Victoria’s room – this time the door easily opened when she pushed it. Finding Victoria’s email, the entity hit the print key with Max’s fingers, snatched the email from Victoria’s printer, ran back to down the hall to Juliet, and rewound the last few actions yet again.

Max questioned the entity’s use of her (its?) rewind powers while standing right in front of someone who would see her “teleport”. But if Juliet noticed Max suddenly appearing in front of her out of thin air, she didn’t comment on it. Under the entity’s control, Max again spoke with Juliet… and then once again, to Max’s frustration, called her “Juliet Mason” despite everything that had just happened a few minutes ago.

Fortunately, Juliet still calmed down quickly after being shown Victoria’s email and apologized to Dana. Dana invited Max in to grab the flash drive…

…but to Max’s shock, the entity disregarded the flash drive sitting right next to Dana’s laptop on her desk – and instead went straight for the pregnancy test in Dana’s waste bin.

 _What!? No! Don’t touch that!_ Fatigued though she was, Max fought to protect her friend’s privacy. She strained uselessly against the entity as it forced her to kneel down and pick up the pregnancy test. But the entity was too strong and Max still too worn out to make any effective resistance. Cramping all over, she involuntarily rose to her feet again, the entity’s vice grip on her fingers holding the pregnancy test for Dana to see and snatch it away…

“Uh, Max? That's mine, thank you!” Dana snapped, grabbing the sensitive item back. “You're not helpful, you're just nosey! I think you better go.”

 _Dana, I’m so sorry! I swear this isn’t me, I’m being possessed by this asshole alien!_ Max wanted to scream. And that was when she heard it – an evil cackle echoing in her head in response. Max whipped around in surprise – or tried to, would have if the entity hadn’t been holding her firmly in place. The voice certainly hadn’t come from anywhere in Dana’s room – it must have been the entity! Max wondered if she might finally communicate with this mysterious being.

 _Are you controlling me?_ Max thought, hoping for a response. _Who are you?_

Unfortunately, no further response was forthcoming. Instead, the entity moved Max’s hand forward, reaching for Warren’s flash drive sitting on the desk.

The entity froze – and Max’s hand with it, mid-reach – as Dana interrupted from the bed. “There’s no more gossip here for you, Max. So go.” Max watched her hand slink back from the desk as if chastened, ridiculous though the notion seemed.

But the entity wasn’t done. Again it reached for the flash drive – and again it turned around when caught by an upset Dana. “You are dense! Go.” “Max. Enough.” “I said, please go.”

Max desperately wanted to rewind the whole thing, but no matter how much she concentrated on her right hand, nothing happened. She tried to raise her right hand but found it pinned to her side by the invisible force – it seemed she could only rewind when the entity saw fit.

After several more attempts to snoop around Dana’s room (provoking an upset response from Dana each time), the entity finally allowed Max to rewind. She sighed in relief as the phantom images of Dana being upset with her flowed in reverse before her eyes – hoping the entity’s curiosity had been satisfied and it wouldn’t hurt Dana’s feelings too much the second time around.

Max’s hopes were vain as she watched herself grab Warren’s flash drive and put it in her bag… and then, to her utter horror, felt the pressure around her again compelling her to bend down and grab Dana’s pregnancy test, and once again leave Dana upset and crying on her bed.

 _No! Let me rewind and make it up to her!_ Max tried to rewind but the entity, deaf to her pleas, marched her right out of Dana’s room and then out of the dorm, into the courtyard.

The entity seemed to know something Max didn’t, for as soon as she’d exited the doors Max felt herself sprinting towards Alyssa, still sitting on the bench reading her book. Just as Max’s body reached a position right behind Alyssa, a movement to her right caught her eye – Max turned slightly and barely had time to realize it was a football flying right up at her face!

But the football passed right through her – Max never felt the impact but she heard, a moment later, Alyssa crying out in pain behind her. “Ow! That hurt!” And Max realized then, the entity must have had some kind of precognition, trying to use her to shield Alyssa from the football.

 _Wait a minute… the football passed through me, just like the paint. What is going on with me?_ Max looked at her hands, felt her bag at her side – she was definitely still solid, not a ghost. _Why are things going right through me?_

Then Max looked at Alyssa crying, and realized she could save her. _Damn, I better rewind._

And Max raised her hand to rewind… but this time the entity refused to cooperate.

_Come on, do something nice for once!_

But Max could only look on helplessly as she was frog-marched out of the courtyard to the parking lot. _Sorry, Alyssa. I tried, I really wanted to help… this damn thing won’t let me._

The entity paused Max right at the gate leading to the parking lot, and Max noticed Kate standing around some distance away, looking down. She wanted to go check on Kate again, but the entity held Max still, not letting her move for several minutes as Kate milled around aimlessly. And then, suddenly…

“So don’t think I’m blind! I see everything here at Blackwell! Do you understand what I’m saying?”

Out of nowhere, David Madsen’s voice rang out as he seemed to appear out of thin air to accuse Kate of some mysterious offense.

“No, and leave me alone!” Kate was distraught, surely for good reason; Max couldn’t imagine Kate actually being guilty of anything, no matter what it might be that David was suspecting of her.

Max wondered if she should stand up for Kate, thinking with her rewind she could always take it back if it didn’t go well – but the entity refused to let her do it and instead, used her camera to take a picture. Kate was not happy. “Hope you enjoyed the show,” she said sarcastically. “Thanks for nothing, Max!”

 _Let me rewind, dammit!_ Max screamed at her entity. _It’s Kate! Please…_

But Max’s arm stayed pinned to her side and her legs were forced step by step towards the parking lot where Warren awaited the return of his flash drive.

Warren soon spotted Max as the entity brought her over. “Yo, Max, check it out!” he called as she approached.

But to Max’s embarrassment, the entity proceeded to jog her around in circles, right in front of Warren, ignoring his attempts to address her.

“Come on over here, please!” Warren called, and Max wanted to stop, but simply couldn’t.

“Max, get your ass over here!”

This repeated several more times before the entity was finally done making a fool out of Max and at long last, allowed her to give Warren the flash drive (while ignoring his invitation for a hug).

They were soon interrupted by Nathan Prescott stomping up to them – or rather, up to Max, pushing Warren out of the way. “Max Caulfield, right? You're one of the Jefferson's photo groupies?” Fortunately, the entity played it smart and gave nothing away. “I’m one of his students,” Max heard her voice reply with perfect calm, not baited by Nathan’s aggression.

But Nathan was not so easily defused. “Answer me, bitch!”

Max waited for the entity to make her say something, but when nothing happened, she tried to speak for herself. But nothing happened – her mouth seemed clamped shut from the outside, her vocal cords frozen silent.

“Anything to say, huh?” Nathan loomed over her impatiently.

 _Come on, keep going!_ Max tried to prompt the entity to let her talk. _We don’t know anything. Tell him!_ But the entity wasn’t cooperating. Max suspected it was playing with her, probably enjoying putting her in this awkward situation.

“Answer me, bitch!”

Max glanced around and that was when she noticed something really freaky.

Time seemed to have frozen around them – Warren was watching from close by, a concerned look on his face, but his posture was unnaturally and perfectly still, while a few other people in the parking lot were also paused in mid-stride; a leaf was suspended in mid-air as it fell, a few birds overhead preserved with wings outstretched, neither moving forward nor falling out of the sky…

“Anything to say, huh?”

…except somehow Nathan wasn’t paused, nor was Max.

_This is weird, I didn’t feel any of my time powers just now… what’s going on?_

“Answer me, bitch!”

Max looked more closely at Nathan. He didn’t seem to realize anything was wrong, obviously too focused on intimidating her to pay any attention to his surroundings.

_I guess Nathan is too crazy to notice how awkward this is… or try something different considering that repeating himself isn’t really working right now…_

Max almost wanted to laugh when Nathan again repeated “Anything to say, huh?” right on cue, but her throat clenched up as the entity silenced her just in time to prevent Nathan from hearing her laugh in his face. Which was probably a good thing, considering Nathan obviously had a few marbles loose right now…

“Answer me, bitch!”

Now resigned to watch this farce continue for as long as the entity forced it, Max relaxed into the invisible cushioning forces around her and allowed her mind to wander. It was a clear blue sky overhead, a wonderful fall day in Max’s favorite month of October…

It could have been minutes or hours later when Max was suddenly jolted out of her daydreams by the sound of her own voice along with the sensation of her throat vibrating as the entity finally spoke for her again.

“What are you talking about?”

_Good, keep playing it cool. Don’t give Nathan anything._

Nathan wasn’t buying it. “I know you're new here, but don't even play stupid with me.”

“I'm not new,” Max (or rather, the entity in Max’s voice) replied. “I've lived here for years.” _Nice half-truth, alien. Those years ended five years ago, not that he needs to know…_

“Then you should know the Prescotts own this shithole.”

“Then you don't have to worry about me... Worry about yourself.”

Max would never have expected that to be the line that set Nathan off on his rage, but apparently it was. A few seconds later Warren came to her defense, Nathan headbutted him and then grabbed her by the neck, and then a truck screeched to a halt right behind her…

…and of course the blue-haired girl she’d saved earlier turned out to be Chloe, whom she’d been avoiding all this time.

Max took the escape Chloe offered, and thankfully the entity gave no interference, letting her jump into the truck’s passenger seat just in time to avoid Nathan, who only ended up kicking the door shut as he raged after her.

Max sat in Chloe’s truck as the evil alien hijacked her voice and spoke to Chloe, tenser than she’d been all day as she nervously waited for the entity to sabotage her hopes of renewing Chloe’s friendship just as it had been doing with all her other relationships that day. When Chloe challenged Max about not texting for five years, only the invisible forcefield molded to her body prevented Max from instantly curling up into fetal position and screwing her eyes shut. _This is it. I’m so sorry Chloe, I can’t beat this thing._ Max waited for this evil alien to say something horrible that would push Chloe away forever…

…but instead what came out was “I’m sorry” and in her mind Max slumped in relief. She didn’t even care that Chloe was still (justifiably) angry with her; at least she’d finally been allowed to apologize and she could hope Chloe would eventually let her back in…

 _Thanks for not being a dick to Chloe_ , Max said to the alien in her mind. _If only you would be so nice to everyone else in my life…_

And sooner than she’d ever expected, Max was back in Chloe’s room for the first time in five years. Max marveled at the traces of their childhood that Chloe had kept through the years, letting the entity wander around with her as she reminisced fondly.

“Put on some music while I medicate,” Chloe asked, as she laid down on her bed and started smoking a joint.

Max started to look around the room but the entity once again knew something Max didn’t and directed her gaze right to the metal box under Chloe’s bed. A few seconds later Max had pulled out a CD, followed by a photo of Chloe with the missing girl, Rachel Amber. Chloe quickly snatched the photo away. The entity played along, cooperating fully with Max’s efforts to be a friend and listen to Chloe’s story…

…but sooner or later the entity had to start fucking around again, and it finally happened when Chloe let her depression show and asked Max to put on some music.

Instead of going to Chloe’s hi-fi to put on the CD, Max found herself being forced to keep trying to make conversation that Chloe was clearly not in the mood for. _I see a pattern here, alien. You just don’t want to leave people alone, huh?_

“I’m still not hearing any tunes!” Chloe complained.

“Go on, it’s an mp3, not a vinyl, you can play it,” Chloe prompted.

“Max, this silence is killing me… Must. Have. Music!”

“I guess you love awkward silence instead of music?”

“Let’s hear that CD.”

“Doh, Max. Player’s over there!”

“Now can you *please* put on some jams?”

“I’m still not hearing any tunes!”

And then, suddenly, Max felt her right hand being raised and everything around her being thrown into reverse once again. The entity forced Max to rewind all the way back to the moment she first entered Chloe’s room – and then, CD in hand, she moved to turn on the power strip and place the CD in Chloe’s hi-fi. _Wait, but Chloe hasn’t even asked me to put on music yet!_

Chloe dismissed Max to find tools for her camera in the garage, wishing to “blaze and be alone for a moment”… but history repeated itself as the entity refused to take hints and continued to intrude on everyone around Max.

Chloe was firmly planted on her bed and going nowhere until she finished her joint. “Can you let me chillax for a bit, alone? The tools are still downstairs.”

The entity kept trying.

“My step-ass keeps tools in the garage. I bet you can find something to fix your camera.”

“No Max, this isn’t a tool shed. Like I said, check the garage.”

As usual, the entity made Chloe repeat herself a few times before it finally let Max leave the room, hopefully to find tools to fix her camera.

Max found the tools easily – the entity seemed to know exactly where to look, on top of the box on the washing machine… though Max disagreed with the entity’s decision to leave the washing machine running as well as leave the lights in the gun display rack on. _Dude, do you want her stepdad to know we’ve been here or something?_

With the entity’s help, Max returned to Chloe’s room with the precision screwdriver set, but sadly her camera was unsalvageable. But Chloe saw her butterfly photo, and realizing Max saved her life, gave her William’s old camera.

And then Max watched Chloe dance on her bed for the next two hours straight without a break, the entity holding her upright when she was too tired to stand on her own.

 _What are you waiting for? Take her picture!_ Max said in her mind. She was so startled when the entity suddenly answered in her mind, for the first time, that she would have jumped had the entity not held her down.

_No, let her dance._

Max was confused by this cryptic answer. _But she wanted us to take a picture? That won’t stop her from dancing…_

The entity forced Max to rewind, and Max noticed something strange: the music wasn’t going backwards as she rewound, even though Chloe was moving in reverse. The music instead continued right where it left off prior to the rewind. _What?_

 _The music is timeless,_ explained the unfamiliar foreign voice in Max’s head. Vaguely male, but unlike anyone she’d ever heard in real life.

 _Wait, who are you?_ Max asked.

_I am you. For now._

_Huh?_

_Please, believe me._ The entity’s voice echoed. _The moment you take that picture, it’s all going to come crashing down. So don’t do it, okay?_

 _But we can’t just stand here forever?_ Max was confused.

 _Fine,_ the entity sighed, _you’ll see. Go ahead, take the damn photo._

Suddenly Max’s arms were freed from the forces that were still holding up her legs and body. Her arms hung limply at her sides. Max took the opportunity to try out William’s old camera. She raised it and took the photo…

Nothing happened except that Chloe was encouraging Max to start dancing.

“Chloe, are you up there?” A muffled voice from downstairs.

“Yo, turn it off, turn it off!” Chloe signaled Max, panicking.

Max rushed to turn off the music and upon doing so, could now clearly recognize David Madsen’s voice. “How many times have I told you to stop blasting that punk shit?”

_Oh, shit._

Max’s own thoughts were answered by the foreign entity that had moved in without permission. _See? You know nothing. Let me handle this week, okay?_

Max sighed. _Fine. Try it your way. But if you hurt Chloe I will find a way to get you, okay?_

There was no further response from the entity, but Max felt the invisible pressures on her, shifting her arms and legs around as she rushed to hide in the closet while Chloe tried to delay David from entering the room.

With the help of a quick rewind to move the rickety lamp aside, Max had just enough time to close the closet door before David strode into the room, suspecting Chloe of having stolen one of his guns. Chloe denied it, just in time for David to find the unfinished joint she’d been smoking and get more angry at her.

“I'm sick of your disrespect! Tell me the truth, that's an order! Whose is it?”

Max considered taking the blame for the joint, but seeing how scary David was in his anger, she strongly preferred not to. The entity obviously agreed with her, gently pushing back on her arms to signal her to stay in the closet.

Max soon wished she’d stepped in, though, once she saw what happened next.

“Stop treating me and mom like we're your family platoon!”

“Hey, leave Joyce out of this.”

“I wish you'd leave Joyce. Like now!”

David’s hand moved so fast Max didn’t even see it – but she heard the slap and saw Chloe stumble back, holding her hand to her face.

After David left, Max felt the gentle push of the entity behind her, urging her out of the closet. She approached Chloe. “Hey, you okay?”

“Welcome to The Real Step-Douches of Arcadia Bay,” Chloe deadpanned.

”I’m sorry…”

“For what? He would've been a bigger dick if he caught you in here.”

“That’s hard to believe.” _He wouldn’t have hit me if I took the blame. Would he?_

“Anyway, let's sneak out the window... there is one cool place we can hang in this hickhole...”

But Max was glad to feel her hand coming up and sparkling with the strange energy of the rewind. _David was such a mean bastard to Chloe... What if I had stepped up to help?_ She hoped she would soon find out.

Once again Max hid in the closet and David came in with guns blazing. He picked up Chloe’s joint in his fingers, looking at it with disgust. “I'm sick of your disrespect! Tell me the truth, that's an order! Whose is it?”

Before Chloe could talk back any more, Max opened the closet door, sounding convincingly contrite. “I'm sorry, that was my joint.”

David didn’t slap Chloe this time, but he did threaten Max’s scholarship. But then again, Chloe seemed very pleased by Max’s willingness to cover for her, and even revealed (to Max’s fright) that she had, in fact, stolen David’s gun.

Feeling ambivalent about this outcome, Max allowed the entity to rewind once again, hoping that perhaps there was a better way to handle things that they were about to discover.

This time Max didn’t hide at all, allowing the invisible hands around her ankles to keep her firmly rooted to the floor where David would see her upon entering. This promptly drew David’s attention. “What's going on in here? Why is she here?”

Unfortunately, David still had an agenda and Max’s distraction wasn’t enough to make him forget about his missing gun, or overlook Chloe’s still-smoldering joint in the ashtray on her desk. Exactly as before, David picked up the joint. “You been tokin’ up again in here?” “I’m sick of your disrespect. Tell me the truth, that's an order!”

And then Max watched in shock as Chloe lied, “It’s not my pot, it’s from Max!”

David pointed the joint at Max, stern and intimidating. “Is this true?”

 _Chloe, what the hell!_ was Max’s initial reaction, but then she remembered what happened when she’d stayed hidden in the closet and hesitated. _Is he going to hit her if I don’t take this? Maybe I should take it._

But before Max could decide, the entity decided for her. “Uh, yeah. My pot,” Max heard herself say as she looked down, without even meaning to. David reacted exactly the same as he had when she’d come out of the closet to take the blame – ranting about “screwing up your spotless Blackwell record” and “you losers dragging Chloe down” before eventually running out of steam as Chloe came to her defense.

Max noted that Chloe didn’t reveal her gun this time, though she wasn’t sure whether that was a good thing. But she didn’t have long to ponder before her hand was buoyed up to rewind once again. _That was a shitty thing to do, Chloe, but I don’t blame you for being that afraid of David._ As time rewound around her, Max decided she should probably have stuck to the results from hiding in the closet and then coming out. _If that’s the only way to keep Chloe from getting hit, I might as well impress her while I’m at it._

Except, that wasn’t what the entity had in mind at all. Instead…

“It’s not my pot, it’s from Max!”

“Is this true?”

The entity hadn’t let Max hide. Instead, it now seemed clearly intent on screwing Chloe over in front of her Blackwell asshole stepdad.

“No way. It’s not mine.” Max's voice sounded foreign to her ears.

“Of course not,” David scoffed. “I'm sure Chloe gets all the best shit, right? I bet she gave you ‘good friend’ rates.”

“Why don't you get off my crack?” Chloe retorted. “Stop taking your war rage out on high school girls.”

 _Chloe, what are you doing?_ Max wondered.

“You haven’t seen rage, you little—“

“Fuck you, pig!”

From the outside Max was paralyzed by the invisible forces all over her body, but inside she was cringing as the argument escalated, sensing what was going to happen an instant before it did.

When David slapped Chloe this time, Max recoiled as if she herself had been the one being hit. _This isn’t okay. I have to rewind this!_

But then David said something that made Max cringe even harder – only the entity’s support kept her from screaming in defiance.

“Listen, you asked for that. You know exactly what you're doing.”

David turned to address Max directly. “For your own good you should stay away from Chloe. She's a loser and she'll only drag you down. Stick to doing your homework.”

Max’s jaw would have dropped open in sheer horror if the entity’s firm support under her chin hadn’t been forcibly keeping her mouth shut. _David, what the fuck!_ Max wanted to scream, but no sound came out. _She’s your daughter!_ Max could feel tears welling up in her eyes but she really didn’t want to cry in front of David.

Even after being slapped, Chloe kept arguing, seeming to surprise David by mentioning the incident with Kate and finally wearing out David’s patience in the process. “You only think you're tough and clever,” David sneered. “This too shall pass. Now clean this pigsty up.” David stalked out of the room.

“I'm sorry, Chloe... I didn't know what to do...” Max heard herself say to Chloe, even as she resolved to rewind as soon as she could. _I still don’t know what to do. Even staying in the closet wasn’t as bad as this!_

“Whatever. Everybody bails on me. Even my "best friend" Max... Don't you?” Chloe’s words hit Max right in the gut like a thrown brick. “I'm so done with everyone in this town. I wish I hadn't even seen you.” Max winced, throat constricting as the entity refused to let her say what she really wanted to say. _Chloe, I’m so sorry! I won’t let this stand! Please…_ Chloe didn’t hear any of Max’s thoughts as she ranted on. “As if you care. Color me outta here.”

Chloe climbed right out the window, leaving Max in shock and devastation, unable to call out to her due to being restrained by this alien force.

Max was immensely relieved as her right hand floated up and rewound the whole scenario one last time.

 _Please, just hide in the closet,_ Max pleaded to her entity. _You decide if I should take the blame, but Chloe doesn’t deserve to hear that from her stepdad… no wonder she’s like this._

But Max heard, in response, an evil cackle that sent chills down her spine… and then invisible hard plastic constricting around every square inch of her as she fought futilely to reach for the closet, to try to hide in it, but was fixed to the spot like a pillar as Chloe finally couldn’t keep David out of the room any longer. And Max screamed in rage as the entity forced her to blame Chloe for the joint, then watch her endure another abusive tirade from David, and finally be upset with Max with no way of knowing that it really wasn’t Max doing this at all but rather some mysterious outside force.

Max was convinced now that this alien force inside her was evil; it wanted to hurt her friends, make her suffer. She decided she was going to fight it every step of the way for the rest of her probably very short existence. It seemed like a hopeless battle, but Max would not go quietly. _You’re going down, little alien. Even if I have to go down with you._ Max strained weakly against the entity’s control as it forced her to climb over Chloe’s desk and out the window, following Chloe’s trail to the lighthouse.


End file.
